Sermon – Betrayal and murder – the dishonourable king (2 Sam 11-12)

2 Samuel Artwork

In this sermon you will hear about how King David, high on worldly success and power and secure in his earthly position, demonstrates the all-pervading reaches of human depravity as he defies God’s law, defiles his marriage bed, deceives and destroys others.  Yet in awesome contrast, God prefigures and demonstrates his judgement, grace and everlasting love, even through the death of a son.

Read the Bible Text – 2 Samuel 11-12

– Ken Noakes

 

 

Love (Part 3 of 6)

Without love, truth will not be valued. Without truth, it is difficult to know how to obey. Without obedience, it is impossible to demonstrate true love.

To understand Love, it will help to understand how it is integrally connected to Truth and to Obedience, such that you cannot separate the three. These three ideas intersect with one another at almost every point. Love, Truth, Obedience

Taking our lead from the letter of 1 John, we have looked at Perfect Love (Part 2 of this series). We turn our attention now to the relationships between Love, Truth and Obedience.

Let’s consider ‘Love’.

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Sermon – The Sceptre Comes to Judah (2 Sam 7:1-29)

2 Samuel Artwork

In the sermon King David demonstrates how to be successful as a king in Israel by obeying God fully.  He humbly and lavishly celebrates the presence of God as he brings the ark into the new capital of Israel.  Yet it is God who will bless David through his promise to build his “house” into an everlasting kingship bringing blessing to his people. David’s ensuing strength, wisdom and justice give prompt testimony to the faithfulness of God’s promises.

Read the Bible Text – 2 Samuel 7

– Dave Swan

Sermon – Battle Royale (2 Sam 2-5)

2 Samuel Artwork

In this sermon we hear about how Judah lays claim to David as their king while Saul’s crafty former general promotes his own puppet king.  Through brutal blood lusting battles, betrayal, murder and revenge, opportunists swirl around David. This is contrasted against David’s honourable actions as he becomes more and more powerful because the Lord almighty was with him.

– Dave Swan

Read the Bible Text – 2 Sam 2:1-5:16

Sermon – How the Mighty Have Fallen (2 Sam 1)

In the historical book of 2 Samuel from the Old Testament in the Bible, we enter the world of King David as he ascends to the throne of Israel as God’s chosen King. We see both his wisdom and foolishness, his pride and his humility, his amazing strength and hopeless weaknesses. We see a truly human leader who desperately needs the God who is with him.2 Samuel Artwork

This sermon shows that amidst the distress of Israel’s defeat and the death of their king, David does not seek to profit from the death of Saul his enemy. Rather, David’s public lament shows the depths of his love for Jonathan and respect for God’s anointed. We see David more concerned for the honour of Israel than his for his own honour, giving us hope of a good and humble king.

– Josh Ord

– Dave Swan

Read the Bible Text – 2 Samuel 1:1-27

Sermon #5 – Abimelek: The Man Who Would Be King

The “pattern” in Judges of God appointing a “judge” to deliver Israel is broken by Abimelek who sets himself up as a king, who rules not for God but for himself – with disastrous consequences for all watch/listen to Des Smith as he uses this story to teach us some lessons for church leadership today.

Preacher: Des Smith

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Read the Bible text – Judges 8:29 – 9:21 and Mark 10:35-37, 41-45

English Support Handout – Judges 8:29 – 9:21 and Mark 10:35-27 , 41-45

Sermon #4 – Gideon the weak judge

Many of us “know” the story about Gideon -how he successfully defeated the massive Midianite army, confusing them with trumpets and hidden torches. But do we really understand what happened? Listen to Ken Noakes, has he helps us understand from the book of Judges what Gideon was really like and what we need to learn about trusting in our sovereign God and not relying on human wisdom.

Preacher: Ken Noakes

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Read the Bible text – Judges 6:33 – 7:25 and 1Corinthians 2:1-5

English Support Handout – Judges 6:33 – 7:25 and 1 Corinthians 2:1-5